Vergne takes first pole of 2018-19 for FE's Swiss E-Prix

Jean-Eric Vergne claimed his first pole position of the 2018-19 FIA Formula E  season at the Swiss E-Prix to strengthen his championship position.

The Techeetah driver and reigning FE champion blasted to pole with a 1m18.813s to beat Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans by 0.307s.

In taking his first pole of the season, and the additional three points on offer, Vergne has stretched his lead over Lucas di Grassi to nine points, with the Audi driver enduring a disastrous qualifying session to end up 19th.

Evans was the first of three drivers to end up within a tenth of each other during a closely-fought Super Pole session, with Nissan e.dams driver Sebastien Buemi winding up third as the Japanese squad’s run of three consecutive poles came to an end.

Pascal Wehrlein once again impressed in qualifying as he secured fourth on the grid and just 0.004s behind Buemi in his Mahindra. Dragon’s Maxi Gunther starred on his way to fifth, with Briton’s Sam Bird the slowest Super Pole runner in sixth, 0.723s off the pace.

Daniel Abt missed out on a Super Pole spot by less than a tenth of a second and will start from seventh as the highest-placed Audi driver, while championship frontrunner Andre Lotterer had to settle with eighth after failing to join his Techeetah teammate Vergne in the top six.

Virgin’s Robin Frijns was ninth-fastest, a tenth clear of Jaguar driver Alex Lynn who rounded out the top 10 with another solid qualifying display.

It proved to be a disappointing session all round for a number of title hopefuls, with second-placed Lucas di Grassi and Antonio Felix da Costa - who is fourth in the standings - both starting well down the order for the inaugural FE race in Bern in 19th and 20th respectively.